I Think Abraham Lincoln Was Correct

For a man who suffered with bouts of depression, I find it very profound that Abraham Lincoln, our 16th President, was able to synthesize being happy into such real language. We all strive so very hard to be happy through activities, people, things, places, adventures, when in reality happy is actually a choice. Being happy is a choice we have to make each and every day.

Just when you decide to be happy that is when life throws everything it has at you to test your resolve. Your finances blow up, people get sick, work gets hectic and everything that could go wrong does go wrong. It is as if the universe wants to understand how committed you are to being happy. It becomes a battle for your strength and control of your attitude.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we can only control two things in our lives – our actions and our attitude. To make up our mind the be happy we need to check both, check them often and not let what we cannot control impact our ability to stay happy. That can be a tough call when everything seems to be falling to pieces. If you need to scream, then scream, If you need to clean something then get to work and clean. If you need to cry then watch your favorite sappy movie, cry hard and let out those emotions. Do whatever it takes to protect your ability to live up to your choice to be happy.

Even Abraham Lincoln had dark days, tough days, tough decisions and things that impacted his ability to be happy. He was wise enough to know that he had to make up him mind and stick to it. He knew he had to fight the good fight and keep going. I think Abraham Lincoln was right, we are as happy as we have made up our minds to be.